Summary of AAUP Executive
Committee meeting, April 15, 2004
The AAUP Executive Committee
met on April 15, 2004 at 8:00 a. m. in Thach 202.
The following members were
present: Wayne Brewer, Larry Gerber, Gary Mullen, Virginia O’Leary, Christa
Slaton, and Isabelle Thompson. Absent were Jim Bradley, Robin Jaffe, Jeff
Jakeman, Renee Middleton, Judy Sheppard, and Bill Trimble.
Six items were discussed.
Report of the Nominations Committee
Isabelle Thompson reported on
the activities of the AAUP Nominations Committee. The ballot will include Virginia O’Leary as the nominee for
President-Elect and Constance Relihan as the nominee for Secretary/Treasurer.
According to the AAUP Auburn
Chapter Constitution, members of the Executive Board should be nominated from
the floor at the meeting where the vote occurs. Therefore, the ballot will include nominees only for
President-Elect and Secretary.
Spring Meeting
The election of new officers
and members of the Executive Board will take place at the AAUP Spring meeting,
April 22 in Tichenor 206. The business
meeting and election will begin at 3:00, and at 3:15 Interim President
Richardson will address the membership. He has been asked to talk about
academic freedom, tenure, and role of the faculty in University governance. Then the floor will be opened for questions.
Amending the Constitution
The Executive Board has
approved changes to the Constitution to separate the positions of Secretary and
Treasurer. Before the changes can be
incorporated in to the Constitution, however, they have to be voted on after
being announced twice to the membership.
One announcement occurred over email on the AAUP listserv on April 16;
the other will occur at the spring meeting on April 22. The proposed changes
will be voted on during the next regular or special chapter meeting following
the April 22 meeting.
The proposed changes are as
follows:
Section
1. The officers of the Chapter
shall be President, President-elect, Secretary, and Treasurer. Only active
members are eligible for these officers.
Section
2. The President-elect, the
Secretary, and Treasurer shall be elected for a term of one year at the last
meeting of the academic year.
…………
[Section on Duties]
Section 3. The Secretary shall
(a)
keep a record of all the proceedings of the Chapter and of its Executive
Committee
(b) issue notices of the meetings of the
Chapter and of its Executive Committee
(c)
be responsible for the records, reports, correspondence, and other properties
of the Chapter
(d)
in the case of obsolete records, deposit them in the hands of a suitable agency
of the institution
(e)
send out and collect email votes as necessary
(f)
count votes and absentee ballots
The
Treasurer shall
(a)
keep the membership list up to date
(b)
collect the local dues assessed upon the
members by the Chapter
(c)
send national dues, if necessary, to the
National Association
(d)
review membership
reports and financial records
(e
) disburse its funds on order of the Chapter or of the President; and
(f)
render a financial report to the
Chapter at the last meeting of the academic year or on the call of the Chapter.
Further Revision of the Constitution
President Mullen said that
further revisions of the Constitution will be discussed at a later time.
Meeting of the AAUP Executive Committee with Provost
Hanley
The Executive Committee will
meet with Provost Hanley on April 21 at 10:00 a. m. President Mullen asked for topics that should be addressed in the
meeting. Suggestions included questions
about the progress of the Deans’ searches; the sense of intimidation that has
resulted from the firing of Betty DeMent as Vice President of the Auburn Alumni
Association; changes in the Tenure and Promotion guidelines; and inconsistency
of faculty evaluations across campus.
Treasurer’s Report
We have $2,809.07 in the AAUP
Treasury.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:10
a. m.